Former Tennessee assistant coach Tony Jones says he and the other basketball coaches were advised by the school's legal counsel to not be open and candid with NCAA investigators.

Jones says school attorney Michael Glazier told him, coach Bruce Pearl and former assistants Jason Shay and Steve Forbes to answer only the questions posed by NCAA investigators last summer and to not elaborate on any point. And for their part, the NCAA charged each coach with "failure to furnish full and complete information relevant to the investigation"--one of the eight major violations charged against the men's basketball program.

Tennessee addressed all allegations June 10 before the NCAA Committee on Infractions and awaits a decision on possible sanctions. Meanwhile, Tennessee officials fired Pearl and his staff.

NCAA officials specifically cited the coaches for not being forthcoming about a picture of Pearl and prospect Aaron Craft, taken at Pearl's home on Sept. 20, 2008.

"Michael Glazier advised all of us coaches to just answer the questions that were being asked and do not elaborate on anything,'' Jones told the Knoxville News Sentinel this week. "The question that was posed to me was, 'Did I recognize where this grainy photo of Bruce Pearl and Aaron Craft was taken?' There was a microwave in the background."

"We have a microwave in the Pratt Pavilion, where Aaron was also around Bruce, so I could not say for certain that the picture was taken at Bruce's house. I was being truthful, and I answered the question to the best of my recollection."

Pearl also told the newspaper on Tuesday that Glazier had seen the picture six days before the coaches were interviewed by NCAA investigators and didn't alert them until moments before the interviews.

Jones, who was barred from speaking to the media until his Tennessee contract expired July 31, did accept responsibility for many of the 96 impermissible phone calls cited by investigators.

"There was an excess number of phone calls made, and I made the majority of those calls to a family that was in dire straits where I was trying to reach out and help the family of a current player," Jones told the newspaper. "I take full accountability for that transgression. That's not something I would repeat again, but the young man is in good standing and has turned his life around. For that, I'm proud."